Chapter fourteen: Requirement

James was woken up by something that night, checking the magical clock in the dormitory, he saw it was one two thirty eight, am. Deciding he couldn't get back to sleep, he chucked some clothes over his pyjamas and went down stairs, soft voices were coming from the couch,

"See, nothing can keep him away from you" someone said looking straight at him, James heard Lily soft giggle, and he too laughed,

"Nice to see you too, Laura" James replied, he then noticed Lou was on the floor with the cat,

"Hi Lou" She looked up, smiled and replied

"Heya"

"So why aren't you in bed?" James asked the girls,

"We were talking," Lily said, she paused, "About the mirror," Lily said, "Well, really what I saw" Lily said again, James nodded, he went and sat on the chair, "I miss her" Lily announced, James looked at her, and Laura said,

"I know, I know."

"I'm talking about my sister," Lily said to James, "That's what I saw in the mirror. I have a sister at the moment, I did have two, and I saw all three of us playing and laughing, like we used too." Lily said, letting out a little sob. "She was killed by a wand at the beginning of my second year. Petunia, my sister was a witch as well, she showed the power, but never went to Hogwarts, Jasmine and her were twins. They were both due to start Hogwarts at the same time, they were both one year younger than me, but no one ever thought that. Petunia and Jasmine were identical twins, but I looked a lot like them as well, people thought we were triplets. We were so close, ever so close, but a few days before I was about to go into second year, and them into first, we were," Lily stopped, she sobbed again, "We were playing about at the local park, we were playing around with our wands, not that we should have been because we noticed their was a muggle hiding by the swings. He was watching us, then he came up to us, he offered us some chocolate, for a shoot of the wand, the wand Jasmine was holding. So we were wrong about him being a muggle. But anyway, she said no, we knew not to take chocolate from strangers, especially from a wizard, so he asked again, and again, and again. He finally got mad, and we then went to leave, you know, leg it, but something happened, and, and he jumped on Jasmine. He stole her wand, he head it up, I remember it so well, he started laughing, he had a menacing smile on his face, he shouted: [I] You stupid kids, [/I] then Jasmine did something she shouldn't of, she jumped on him, she wanted her wand back, but he did the Avada Kedavra curse. She was dead, all he did is laugh, and walk away, saying that she didn't need the wand where she was." Lily then dissolved into sobs, and the twinkle that stood out so brightly in Laura and Lou's blue eyes, had gone out. "Petunia never knew the wonders of magic, she never went to Hogwarts, said she didn't want to die like her sister, she hates magic. She thinks that it only brings death, and little sparks. Like the ones we were doing when at the park, she never went to Hogwarts, she went to the high school near us, and forgot all about magic, she's even stopped doing accidental magic when she's mad. She doesn't talk to me much now; I think she blames Jasmines death on me. You know, because I went back to Hogwarts, she begged me not to, we were fine. Well, until I actually went back, then my second year summer, she didn't talk to me, locked herself in her room, and said she was busy, tidying her room. I mean, I'm not dumb, I knew she hated me for the magic I held." Lily said, Lou and Laura were now both on the couch at this time, and Lily rested her head on Laura's shoulder, James put an arm round her for support. A few minuets later he asked, "But. But I thought you were muggle born?"

"No. Well, yes" Lily said shaking her head, "The women on my family tree are all witches, but only if they have witch or wizards blood in them. My grandma was a witch, she married a muggle, and they had my dad, who wasn't a wizard, but he married my mum, who was a witch, and they had my sisters and me, making us all witches. So it goes down the women's side of the family. For example if had a son, and I married a muggle, my son wouldn't be a wizard. But if I married a wizard, then my son would be a wizard, but if I married a muggle, and had a daughter, she would be a witch, it goes like that all the way through my family, it goes way, way back." Lily explained,

"Well, actually, Lily's wrong. She is only part witch, she's part Veela too" Laura pointed out, Lily's face reddened,

"Yeah. So are you" Lily snapped back, she obviously didn't want James to know she was part Veela. Lou laughed,

"You can't laugh, your part Veela too, we all are" Laura said. James looked at them,

"I knew there was something different about the three of you." The girls laughed.

"Well, at least you know why I came to this summer school thing" Lily said, James looked puzzled,

"Why?" He asked

"To get away from Petunia, I really don't want to be reminded about killing my sister" Lily said, smiling slightly.

"Oh" James said, "What about you two, why did you come?" James asked Lou and Laura

"Well, to get away from my family, that's actually what I saw in the mirror, getting away from my family. It was weird, all I saw was me standing on my doorstep, and my mum and dad behind me, and then they blurred, and I saw myself being hugged by a little boy and a little girl, they both called me mum and said I love you, and I was getting hugged by a guy, I supposed he was my husband. I suppose what I want most in my life is to be away from my family and have one of my own, someone I can love, like my mates" Lou said, "So that's why I came, oh, and of course to be with Lily and Laura" Lou added in laughing.

"What about you Laura, what did you see in the mirror, and why did you come here?" James asked her,

"I came here to be with my girls, so I wouldn't be a loner, and what I saw in the mirror. Well I was with a guy, and I was being loved, pretty much it. Encase you haven't noticed, all of us have suffered a loss, I lost my boyfriend, you know, the one you've had since you were two, the one you thought you'd get married to. Well, obviously you wouldn't be thinking that about a boy, would you?" Laura asked him, jokingly.

"No, I wouldn't" James said laughing. "Good," Lily said, "Yeah, she's lost her boyfriend, I lost my sister"

"And I lost my first best friend" Lou said, before Lily could tell James what Lou had lost. Laura and Lily looked at her awestruck,

"He's not likely to blab it to anyone, other than the boys, so it doesn't matter" Lou said coolly.

"How did you lose your best friend?" James asked, remembering that Laura, Lou and Lily had been best friends since first year, and before.

"I was six, her name was Sarah, and she lived next to me. She betray me though once, I had called the bully's of our school, well, bully's. They hated me, and Sarah always wanted to be in with them, so she told them what I said, and they came and beat me up. I was sitting on the swings, minding my own business. In fact, I was with Sarah. They came up to me, about ten of them. They pulled me off the swing and punched me. I'm pure blood, and so I knew I was a witch at the time. And well, I was really scared, so I accidentally, tripped one of them up, magically. They went ballistic, I kept calling out for Sarah, but all she did was laugh and she too started punching me. I finally got away, but at school it was hell. The bully's left me be, but Sarah didn't. It took me ages to trust Lily and Laura, after Sarah had finally moved away. About a week after Sarah had moved, Lily and Laura moved into the houses on each side of me. Before long though, they were my best friends, and well, they've never changed," Lou said smiling at them.

"That's why she hated you when Sirius kissed that girl, because she didn't want Laura getting hurt, and she hated you, because you were Sirius's friend, and you were with me" Lily said, Lou blushed,

"I suppose I got you guys wrong," Lou said.

"Not trying to press it, or anything, but how did you lose your boyfriend?" James asked Laura.

"Err, James, I don't think..." Lily started

"Nah, its okay, like Lou said, he's not going to tell anyone, is he?" Laura said rhetorically. "We didn't just break up, like any normal couple." Laura started, "It had its complications. I started going out with this guy when I was about, err, eight, I think. I thought he was great, perfect. Yeah, I was young, but still, he was great! We spent all our spare time with each other; Lily and Lou did get a bit annoyed since I was spending so much time with him, but they didn't mind that much. Well we lasted till I was ten. Oh, by the way, he was a year older than me, and he lived next to me. Well, he did for a while. He moved you see, and well, his dad got a job in America, so he had to go there, but only for six months, so we stayed in contact. Then he came back, it had only been six months, but boy had he changed, he used to be 'cute', but when he returned...." Laura trailed off, "He had a great tan, he had done something to his clothes, they looked great, but he wasn't cute anymore, he was stunning. The only thing that annoyed me was his new personality. He was arrogant and a bit bossy. He started flirting with everything, girls to dogs, in the literal sense!" Laura said. Lou and Lily laughed, "I got a bit fed up with him, so I decided to call it off, but. Well, some guys don't like being dumped, so he said no, then started to get a bit pushy, so I thought to myself, only a year left, then I'll be away from him, you know, Hogwarts. A week later though, we were in school, it was break time, and there was a huge gang around us, Dave was telling his jokes again, me laughing in the corner about how funny my boyfriend was. Then, he brings me into the middle of the circle with him, and starts to tell a joke, but it was a really nasty one, it was about me. I laughed it off, then he announced to the gang, how he couldn't bear the sight of me anymore, and that I was dumped. I was awestruck, I mean, I dumped him first, only about a week before. Then to make it worse that having half the school looking at me when I got dumped, he put a bunch of embarrassing secrets and all sorts of rumours, crap and anything nasty about me that he could find. No one never really got tiered of teasing me; I would get a lot of crap at school. I hated it there! That's why I wasn't so forgiving with Sirius when he kissed that girl," Laura finished off.

"Oh" Was all James could say.

James and the girls stayed up for about an hour, before they all turned in again.

Over the week, the girls were getting really good at the transformations into animals. Lou had a black tail when she transformed, and her hands and feet shrunk to the size of cats paws, making it extremely hard for her to stand up. Laura had managed to sprout a horn and tail; her skin has also turned to a white shade. Lily had managed some hooves and a tail. Laura and Lily had frequent tail fights in the common room, when it was empty. Lily and Lou were complaining about how their skin hadn't turned colour, and how Laura's had. At the end of the week, though, they were all mistaken; Lou's skin turned black, and her tiny hands had sprouted claws, she had also mastered how to move her tail. Lily's skin had also turned the right colour, and her neck had grown a mane. Laura also had a mane, hooves, tail and her skin colour was now perfect for that of a unicorn.

James was out on Monday morning, at about five o'clock in the morning, not being able to sleep, he knew it was still against the rules to be up and about at this hour, but he didn't want to wake up the rest of the boys. He got his invisibility clock out of the trunk. James was wandering around, when he heard the shuffling of feet, [I] Oh shoot, I need somewhere to hide [/I] James thought. He moved to the statue a few yards in front of him, and then he decided against it, he moved back to where he was, then decided against it, and went back to the statue. It was then when James saw a door materialise out of nowhere. Not even thinking about what was behind it, he dived in, and shut the door quickly. He was just in time for hearing the person pass him by. James let out a sigh, and then he observed his settings. He was in a room, it was quite a big room, and not like any he had seen at Hogwarts before. It was white, he then thought about how it had just materialised out of nowhere. He left the room, took a mental note of where it was, and went to get some breakfast. When James got to lake where they all met up for sports. Laura and Lou were grinning from ear to ear. James kissed Lily and asked what was up with Lou and Laura, "Were doing swimming," She said simply, Lou and Laura shot him a cheeky smile.

"Can I talk to you after class?" Remus asked Lou, she nodded, looking suspicious. When they were all in swimming gear, James was admiring the girls, and he wasn't the only one. Lily had a dark blue bikini on, with silver material round the edges of it. Lou had a red bikini with silver medium sized, stars on it. Laura had a classical black bikini on, but she looked stunning in it. James had never seen any girls ever look as good in a bikini as they did. Laura and Lou did do as they said they would, "Miss" Lou said brightly, "Lily, here," Lou said pointing at Lily, "Well, she's an excellent swimmer"

"Yeah, I think you should use her as an example of how to swim" Laura said, grinning at Lily. Lily glared back at them, but Professor Midgeal did ask her to do an example, and Lily reluctantly obliged. Later on the day, James still couldn't get his mind off that room, so he went looking for it again. He looked at the place where he remember it to be, but he didn't see it, "Oh, where is it, I need to find that room" James said out loud. He walked to the stature, then back to the picture, trying to find the room, pressing on the wall, then on his third time to the statue, the door appeared out of no where, again. James looked at the door, [I]"Wasn't it three times I walked past that door last time [/I] he thought? James went a few yards away again, and noticed the door fade away into nothingness. James went past again, "I need some food," James said as his stomach rumbled, going past the invisible door three times. James didn't really think anything would appear different when he went in the room again, but his jaw dropped and as he saw, food. All over the room were different types of all his favourite food, there was one table and one chair, and everything else in it was his favourite food, there was food on the floor, on the table, on the shelves, literally everywhere. James stayed in the room for about an hour, until he felt so sick, he had to leave. When he got to the common room, he decided not to tell anyone what he had witnessed, he knew he was being selfish, but he did show them the mirror, and he would show them the room, just not yet. Entering the common room, he saw Lily on the chair, Laura on James's lap, and Remus with his arm round Lou, and Peter not in sight.

"Peter with Penelope?" He asked sitting on Lily on purpose,

"Ahhh, James get off," She squealed, James did so. He pulled her off as well, sat down, and pulled her down on to his lap, where she stayed happily.

"Yeah, he is" Remus said, answering James's question about Peter.

"Hold on, what did I miss?" James asked looking at Lou and Remus.

"Oh," Sirius said, "We couldn't find you, to tell you, that Remus and Lou are now officially an item" Sirius said grinning at them. Remus glared at Sirius, and Lou blushed slightly.

"So where were you?" Lily asked, leaning in a kissing him.

"Walking about, trying to find a new passage way?" James said casually.

"Oh, did you find one?" Lily asked

"No, but I found Filch, and he ain't too happy" James said, lying.

"Oh, did you get detention?" Laura asked. James shook his head,

"Nah, I managed to get out of it. I lied" James lied. Lily nodded.

The rest of the week flew by; revision and the girls practicing to become an Animagus mainly occupied the week. On Saturday, James had a lie in, and woke up at eleven o'clock; he couldn't see a trace of his friends so he decided to go back to the room. He had named it the "Room of Requirement" this time instead of getting food, he asked for a place to think, and he sat and thought in the room until his stomach started to growl. He went down to the Great Hall, and caught his friends having lunch; "Hey" He said sitting by Lily, and kissing her on the cheek.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead" Lily said.

"We were going to wake you up, but we thought you'd like to sleep in" Sirius told him. Later that day, the room of requirement was still ebbing at his head, he didn't know whether to tell them or not. The girls went to bed early, and James could hold it in anymore, he went up and got the cloak, "Come on, I have to show you something" James said swishing the cloak over them all.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked, James didn't answer, not until the got to the picture James had familiarised him self with.

"Clear your minds of everything, and follow me" James told them. James walked three times to the statue and back, thinking the same thought: [I] I want to be able to impress my friends with this room. [/I] When he was back at his original starting place, he saw the door materialise again. Inside was the room he saw the first time he found it, it was white, filled with comfy chairs, sparkly walls and a bunch of books and magazines to read. "Cool" The three boys said at the same time.

"Yeah, its not bad" James said, "Here, go out again, and I'll show you something again,

"I want a room filled with chocolate" James said out loud and walked the same steps he did. Walking in to the room again, he saw a chocolate covered room, "Now that, that is impressive," Peter said,

"Very!" Remus said. All over the room were chocolate, there was on table and one chair, and everything else in it was made of chocolate, there were bars and bags of chocolate on the floor, on the table, on the shelves, literally everywhere. The boys pigged out on chocolate and before long; they were on the chairs feeling sick. Very sick. The girls all wondered where they had been over the last few hours, Remus told them that he had to talk to one of the teachers, the girls believed him. The boys spent a lot of their free time in the room of requirement, having fun thinking up of better ways to spend in the room.

"James?!"

"Sirius?!"

"Remus?!" The three girls called their boyfriends names when they got into the common room, it was quite late, so everyone was in bed and the common room was empty.

"Peter!?" The girls said, noticing no one had said his name. They all laughed and James asked what they were so excited about.

"Look" Lou said, one by one, the girls turned into animals, Lou had successfully turned into a black cat. Lily now resembled a palomino horse, and Laura had indeed changed into a unicorn.

"Oh my God!" Peter said, all the boys looked at each other in total disbelief, James knew what they were thinking. [/I] How could they of done it in such short notice, it took them years. And here they were, changing into animals. It took them less than eight weeks. [I] James knew they were thinking this because he was thinking it too, "That's great" Remus said, breaking the ice. The girls transformed, James couldn't contain himself; "How did you do it?" He asked, the girls smiled,

"We had great teachers, why, do you want to become an Animagus?" Lily asked James,

"No" James said a bit to quickly.

"What would you become anyways?" Laura asked them

"I mean, if you wanted to, what would you become?" Lou added.

"Stag" James said

"Dog" Sirius said simply

"Rat" Peter said without any thought

"Hawk" Remus said, the girls all looked at them,

"Have you ever given this any thought?" Lily asked them suspiciously. The boys shook their heads,

"No" James said

"Its just our favourite animals" Peter told them, the girls nodded, still looking suspiciously at them